What’s next for ethics?

Maybe you read our last email about HR-1 — the sweeping anti-corruption bill that would fundamentally change the way politics looks and operates at the federal level — but maybe you still have questions about what we’re hoping to accomplish. So, we thought we’d reach out and share more about an important piece: ethics.

Let’s get into some of the nitty-gritty of what the ethics portions of the bill will get into:

Requiring the president and vice president to disclose 10 years of their tax returns. Candidates for president and vice president must also do the same.

Stopping members of Congress from using taxpayer money to settle sexual harassment or discrimination cases.

Giving the Office of Government Ethics the power to do more oversight and enforcement and put in stricter lobbying registration requirements. These include more oversight into foreign agents by the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Creating a new ethical code for the US Supreme Court, ensuring all branches of government are impacted by the new law.

As you may have also heard, GOP leadership is absolutely intent on blocking the legislation from happening. Whether it’s to protect themselves or just to be obstructionist almost doesn’t matter.